HMV has opened a new megastore, described as the largest music and entertainment retail space in Europe, making a multimillion-pound investment eight months after the firm was bought out of administration.
The HMV Vault, which measures 25,000sq ft, opened on Friday in Birmingham. The store stocks more than 100,000 LPs and CDs, and it is the first retailer to offer every film available in 4K UHD, which amounts to 20,000 Blu-ray and more than 40,000 DVD titles.
The Vault, located close to the city centre, also features a performance space designed for concerts by international and local musicians. Liam Payne will perform at the store’s launch on Friday, followed by James Arthur on Saturday. The Murder Capital and local bands will play over the opening weekend.
“I am a firm believer in the potential for British high street retail,” said Doug Putman, owner of HMV.
“Retail offers two things a purely digital experience of music simply can’t – the opportunity to experience the biggest acts live in our stores and our ability to offer a platform to new artists in the communities where we operate, as well as opportunities for fans to come together and share their passion for music and film with our dedicated staff.”
1/10 10. I’m Not There (2007)
Todd Haynes followed his glam rock pseudo-biopic Velvet Goldmine (1998) with this inventive exploration of the many sides of Bob Dylan. Six actors – Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale and Ben Whishaw among them – portrayed Dylan at different stages of his career as part of an appropriately freewheelin’ approach to narrative.
Rex Features
2/10 9. The Doors (1991)
To convince director Oliver Stone to give him the part of Jim Morrison, Val Kilmer undertook hours of extensive research into his hero, learning 50 songs to mimic his singing voice. When the surviving members of the Doors assembled to hear a recording of Kilmer, none could tell which was the impersonation and which the real Morrison. The Doors was not loved by all but the great Kyle MacLachlan and Meg Ryan were memorable in supporting roles as keyboardist Ray Manzarek and Morrison’s girlfriend Pamela Courson respectively.
Rex Features
3/10 8. Sid & Nancy (1986)
Gary Oldman was a dead-ringer for the late Sex Pistols guitarist Sid Vicious in director Alex Cox’s appropriately grotty account of the punk star’s pointless death from heroin following the overdose of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen (Chloe Webb) in New York’s Hotel Chelsea. Bandmate Johnny Rotten was predictably dismissive of the project but understandably annoyed that Joe Strummer of The Clash had been consulted but not him.
Rex Features
4/10 7. Get on Up (2014)
Like Rami Malek, Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman faced a seemingly impossible task in portraying soul superstar James Brown, “Mr Dynamite” himself. He acquitted himself well, however, in a film that largely conformed to genre formula but offered strength in depth with Dan Aykroyd, Viola Davis, Lennie James and Octavia Spencer among the supporting cast.
Rex Features
5/10 6. What’s Love Got to Do with It? (1993)
Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne were superbly matched as Tina and Ike Turner in Brian Gibson’s unflinching account of their rise to fame and abusive marriage. Adapted from Tina’s memoir I, Tina, the movie follows Ike’s violent attempts to dominate her before a conversion to Buddhism gives the soul star the strength to break free and go it alone.
Rex Features
6/10 5. Straight Outta Compton (2015)
Depicting the rise of game-changing LA rappers NWA in the late 1980s, Straight Outta Compton appeared in 2015 and was a smash hit, making $200m (£153m) at the box office on a $50m (£38m) budget. While F Gary Gray’s film lost its way in its second half, becoming bogged down in contract disputes, overall it did a superb job of capturing the vitality and righteous anger of the album of the same name. O’Shea Jackson Jr’s performance as his own real-life father, Ice Cube, was a revelation.
Universal Pictures
7/10 4. Ray (2004)
Jamie Foxx was ideally cast as Ray Charles in Taylor Hackford’s telling of the life of the blind soul star, charting his rise from poverty in rural Florida to worldwide acclaim. A sample of Foxx singing “I Got a Woman” provided the unlikely basis for Kanye West’s huge hit “Gold Digger” in 2005.
2004 Universal Studios
8/10 3. Walk the Line (2005)
James Mangold’s film, in which Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon excelled as Johnny Cash and June Carter, was a highly accomplished period piece and swept up its fair share of awards. Admittedly conventional – containing at least three eureka moments in which the leads are inspired to write their best known songs – this is solid and fair-minded stuff.
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.
9/10 2. La Vie en Rose (2007)
Marion Cotillard became an international star and was named Best Actress at the Oscars for her incredibly emotional turn as tragic French chanteuse Edith Piaf in Olivier Dahan’s 2007 film. Covering the central events of her life from childhood to middle age, the biopic captured the defiant, uncompromising character of its subject, as expressed by her signature song “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien”.
Icon Film Distribution
10/10 1. Control (2007)
The directorial debut of Anton Corbijn, who had photographed Joy Division in their prime, Control married the British kitchen sink realism of the 1960s with the doom-laden atmosphere of Ingmar Bergman to appropriately eerie effect.
Sam Riley was mesmeric as Ian Curtis, a jittery, haunted presence in a film that could not have been more different from Michael Winterbottom’s 24 Hour Party People (2002), covering some of the same territory.
Rex Features
1/10 10. I’m Not There (2007)
Todd Haynes followed his glam rock pseudo-biopic Velvet Goldmine (1998) with this inventive exploration of the many sides of Bob Dylan. Six actors – Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale and Ben Whishaw among them – portrayed Dylan at different stages of his career as part of an appropriately freewheelin’ approach to narrative.
Rex Features
2/10 9. The Doors (1991)
To convince director Oliver Stone to give him the part of Jim Morrison, Val Kilmer undertook hours of extensive research into his hero, learning 50 songs to mimic his singing voice. When the surviving members of the Doors assembled to hear a recording of Kilmer, none could tell which was the impersonation and which the real Morrison. The Doors was not loved by all but the great Kyle MacLachlan and Meg Ryan were memorable in supporting roles as keyboardist Ray Manzarek and Morrison’s girlfriend Pamela Courson respectively.
Rex Features
3/10 8. Sid & Nancy (1986)
Gary Oldman was a dead-ringer for the late Sex Pistols guitarist Sid Vicious in director Alex Cox’s appropriately grotty account of the punk star’s pointless death from heroin following the overdose of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen (Chloe Webb) in New York’s Hotel Chelsea. Bandmate Johnny Rotten was predictably dismissive of the project but understandably annoyed that Joe Strummer of The Clash had been consulted but not him.
Rex Features
4/10 7. Get on Up (2014)
Like Rami Malek, Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman faced a seemingly impossible task in portraying soul superstar James Brown, “Mr Dynamite” himself. He acquitted himself well, however, in a film that largely conformed to genre formula but offered strength in depth with Dan Aykroyd, Viola Davis, Lennie James and Octavia Spencer among the supporting cast.
Rex Features
5/10 6. What’s Love Got to Do with It? (1993)
Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne were superbly matched as Tina and Ike Turner in Brian Gibson’s unflinching account of their rise to fame and abusive marriage. Adapted from Tina’s memoir I, Tina, the movie follows Ike’s violent attempts to dominate her before a conversion to Buddhism gives the soul star the strength to break free and go it alone.
Rex Features
6/10 5. Straight Outta Compton (2015)
Depicting the rise of game-changing LA rappers NWA in the late 1980s, Straight Outta Compton appeared in 2015 and was a smash hit, making $200m (£153m) at the box office on a $50m (£38m) budget. While F Gary Gray’s film lost its way in its second half, becoming bogged down in contract disputes, overall it did a superb job of capturing the vitality and righteous anger of the album of the same name. O’Shea Jackson Jr’s performance as his own real-life father, Ice Cube, was a revelation.
Universal Pictures
7/10 4. Ray (2004)
Jamie Foxx was ideally cast as Ray Charles in Taylor Hackford’s telling of the life of the blind soul star, charting his rise from poverty in rural Florida to worldwide acclaim. A sample of Foxx singing “I Got a Woman” provided the unlikely basis for Kanye West’s huge hit “Gold Digger” in 2005.
2004 Universal Studios
8/10 3. Walk the Line (2005)
James Mangold’s film, in which Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon excelled as Johnny Cash and June Carter, was a highly accomplished period piece and swept up its fair share of awards. Admittedly conventional – containing at least three eureka moments in which the leads are inspired to write their best known songs – this is solid and fair-minded stuff.
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.
9/10 2. La Vie en Rose (2007)
Marion Cotillard became an international star and was named Best Actress at the Oscars for her incredibly emotional turn as tragic French chanteuse Edith Piaf in Olivier Dahan’s 2007 film. Covering the central events of her life from childhood to middle age, the biopic captured the defiant, uncompromising character of its subject, as expressed by her signature song “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien”.
Icon Film Distribution
10/10 1. Control (2007)
The directorial debut of Anton Corbijn, who had photographed Joy Division in their prime, Control married the British kitchen sink realism of the 1960s with the doom-laden atmosphere of Ingmar Bergman to appropriately eerie effect.
Sam Riley was mesmeric as Ian Curtis, a jittery, haunted presence in a film that could not have been more different from Michael Winterbottom’s 24 Hour Party People (2002), covering some of the same territory.
Rex Features
The staff will also be able to advise customers on music technology, ranging from turntables to headphones, sold in store, HMV said. Another offering is a range of 7,000 music-related books and music-inspired fashion and merchandise.
In its announcement, HMV cited research showing that every age group in the UK buys more CDs and LPs than the global average.
The firm was bought by Mr Putman, owner of Canadian chain Sunrise Records, in February after it collapsed for the second time in December. At the time, it blamed a continued decline in the CD and DVD market, as well as “extremely weak Christmas footfall”. The deal saved almost 1,500 out of 2,200 jobs.
The one-time high street stalwart originally went into administration in 2013 amid rising competition from music streaming services. It was then bought by Hilco, a firm specialising in restructuring.
